Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
